China manufacturer of magnetic ballasts for metal halide flood lights & hps flood lights

A metal halide lamp’s starting requirements are important because they impact the type of mh ballast that the lamp requires. Two methods are used to start MH lamps: probe start (standard ingnitor) and pulse start. Probe start refers to the method used to ignite the arc in the arc tube. Starting the lamp: In MH lamps, ballasts provide the starting voltage and ignition pulses (pulse-start lamps) necessary to ignite the lamp. Probe-start MH ballasts, however, can take as long as 10 to 20 minutes to restrike (re-start) a lamp. Pulse-start MH ballasts can restrike the lamp within 2 to 8 minutes of an interruption in current, because they provide high-voltage pulses to start these lamps.

MH ballasts and Electronic ignitors

A traditional or probe start metal halide lamp has three electrodes – two for maintaining the arc and a third internal starting electrode, or probe. A high open circuit voltage from the ballast initiates an arc between the starting electrode and the operating electrode at one end of the arc tube. Once the lamp reaches full output, a bi-metallic switch closes to short out the probe, thereby discontinuing the starting arc.